I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to novel aerosol hair spray compositions containing resins which are copolymers derived from unsaturated monocarboxylic acids and vinyl or vinylidene monomers wherein at least a portion of the available carboxylated functionalities are neutralized with specific long chain amines.
II. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Carboxylated vinyl polymeric hair spray resins, particularly the carboxylated acrylate, and/or acetate based resins, have long been favored for use in halocarbon-propelled aerosol hair spray formulations. In order to obtain optimum benefits for the use of such resins, it has been required to neutralize at least a portion of the available carboxyl functionalities with specific alkaline reagents, e.g. amines and aminohydroxy compounds, as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,996,471; 3,405,084; 3,577,517, etc. Thus, alkaline reagents which are employed for such neutralizations include ammonia water, lithium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, mono-, di- or tri-ethanolamine, mono-, di or tripropanolamine, morpholine, amino ethyl ethanol amine, amino methyl propanol, amino methyl propanediol, hydroxy ethyl morpholine, ammonium salts of lysine or glycine and mixtures thereof. The purpose of this neutralization step is both to improve the water solubility or dispersibility of the resin thus permitting easy removal from the hair by merely washing with shampoo and also to affect the degree of flexibility of the resultant film when sprayed on the hair (i.e. to produce a soft film, normal film or a film suitable for "hard to hold" hair). Additionally, British Pat. No. 1,321,836 has taught the use of primary amines containing 4 to 16 carbon atoms together with the alkanolamines described hereinabove for the neutralization of specific polymers in halocarbon propelled systems. The polymers described therein must be free from chromophoric groups and amide groups and consist of copolymers of unsaturated dicarboxylic acids and a vinyl or vinylidene monomer.
Recent ecological considerations have resulted in a shift from the use of halocarbons towards the use of certain hydrocarbons as propellents in aerosol hair spray formulations. However, the use of hydrocarbon propellents poses a number of problems, some of which are related to the decreased solubility of the hair spray resins in the alcohol-hydrocarbon systems. Thus, although the commercially favored carboxylated resins are soluble in the anhydrous alcohol-halocarbon systems, their reduced solubility in the proposed alcohol-hydrocarbon propellent may render the use thereof unacceptable to the industry.